Knowing The Difference
by seek-to-enchant121584
Summary: After the events of She Ain't Heavy, Sam is held back from immediately leaving TC. Max decides it's time for a little heart to heart. Guess who the main topic of discussion is? Oh, and by the way, did anyone even know the difference between her and Sam? MA oneshot.


A/N: This is one of those many stories floating around in the ether of my fanfic journal waiting to be written. I figured it's been waaaaay too long since I last posted something and thought this would be a nice little something to give you all.

Music Suggestions: 'Stranded' by Plumb, 'Move along' by The All-American Rejects, 'What it's all about' by Closure, 'She' by Green Day.

Disclaimer: Still not mine. Never will be.

Knowing the difference

Max caught up with Sam shortly after their group discussion to remove Sam and her family to Canada. They had the mode of transportation and housing arrangements all set up, but it was the new identities and the paperwork behind it that were delaying their departure for the rest of the week. And while Max didn't really understand all the details as to why, she was just glad that she'd have some time to get to better know her true-blue Manticore reflection.

Max saw Sam heading out towards the exit when she called out to her from the opposite side of the common area in TC command.

"Sam!" Max called out again when the other transgenic refused to turn around, whether by truly not hearing her or by choice Max couldn't tell, but was glad when Sam finally acknowledged her by turning around with a mildly irritated look on her face.

Now Max was beginning to understand why some people tried to avoid talking to her. She probably walked around with the same expression all the time.

That made Max smile just the slightest bit. It wasn't just her.

"What?" Sam asked when she saw Max coming closer with an 'inside joke' smile on her face.

"I was just realizing some of our similarities." Max replied cryptically, motioning towards the chairs in the common area. "Would you mind sittin' down and talking for awhile?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt. I've got some time." Sam said half-heartedly, walking up to and sitting down in one of the chairs, lifting and crossing her legs out on the banged up coffee table in front of her.

"So, I'm assuming you wanna know something specific. Let's have it." Sam asked matter-of-factly after Max sat down in the chair caddy-cornered her.

ooooooaooo*oooooocooo*ooooooeooo

"Girl, are you kidding me? Some things may never change, but Alec is _nothing_ like the 494 I used to know." Sam replied incredulously some time later, sitting forward in the chair and resting her arms on her knees as she spoke to Max.

"How so?" Max asked in retort, challenging her. Even when she'd first met Alec, he wasn't at all different than he was now. Still as ego-inflated and annoying as always.

"He was a true-blue soldier, through and through." Sam replied. Her gaze drifted off as she recalled the past. "There was no attitude in the early days. No trading with the guards, no wisecracks...no women. Apart from the heats, we weren't allowed to get, well, physical. Before Berrisford, he was one of the best soldiers around. Always receiving praise." Sam lowered her voice and leaned in closer to Max with her next line of conversation. "And even though it wasn't exactly allowed, many of us female X5s had formed a crush, of sorts, on him. Of course, we didn't really understand the feeling at the time, but we had enough sense to know that it'd get us into trouble."

"When you say 'we' does that include you?" Max interrupted at that point, if not without a hint of jealousy.

"Well, yeah." Sam replied, drawing out the _"yeah"_ as if to say _"Duh, who wouldn't?"._ "He was a pretty boy, especially back in the day when he hadn't yet realized the fact. He was what he was expected to be. We respected him, wanted to be like him.

"But then he changed." Sam trailed off, her tone changing.

"Changed." Max echoed, knowing Sam was talking about the Berrisford assignment.

"Yeah. News spread quickly through the ranks speaking of his defiance. It was something completely unheard of. Especially when it came to 494. No one saw or heard of him for weeks after that assignment. But we all knew where he was. Psy Ops was a place you never wanted to end up in." At that point, Sam paused and shuddered slightly at the thought, the memories.

Max couldn't hide her own fear and resentment of that place. It was a transgenic's worst nightmare. She'd still wake up in the middle of the night, shaken to the core that she was back in there again, and could never escape. In a way, she couldn't. The memories of that place never faded.

"Very few know about how much torture they put Alec through, trying to find out what went wrong. But I was _there_. Near the end all of us clones, twins, whatever, were brought in to make sure we weren't straying as well. They broke him. Over and over again, just to see how much he could take. They would drag him past my cell every day. He could barely stand when they took him in the mornings.

"I was only down there four days. He was brought back into our normal regimen three days after me. One day after that, he reappeared for morning roll-call like nothing at all had happened. But I knew. I knew how much strength it took to stand up after a mental beating like that. It took me two days to recover before I was declared fit for active duty once more. And I wasn't under nearly as long as he'd been." Sam finished, a slight reverence in her voice. It was something she didn't bestow upon many.

"How did you know Alec?" Max asked once Sam had gone silent, nearly on the edge of her seat, eager for any information Sam would give her. She had no idea why her twin was being so open and honest all of a sudden - or why she was so eager to ask, for that matter - but she didn't intend to waste the opportunity.

"Our units were bunked together for a few years as kids. Then, when they started individual bunking, they put all of the 09er clones close together, perhaps so as to gather us all up for testing in a quick and efficient fashion if they so chose. Our units also sparred together regularly. So, we were fairly well acquainted." Sam answered, leaning back in her chair and tilting it on its hind legs for a moment out of a transgenic's need to be in constant motion.

"Then how come there was no hint of recognition the first time we were introduced?" Max queried. After all, she'd thought he was Ben. Why not the other way around as well?

Sam shrugged her shoulders. "He was most likely briefed all about you as part of the mission. You were 452, recently recaptured 09er. We were two completely different people." Sam replied.

"But what about these past few days? Did he know you weren't me?" Max asked, not understanding why the answer was so important to her.

Sam merely smiled vacantly, a gleam of humor in her eyes as she said, "You'll just have to ask him that yourself."

ooooooxooo*oooooozooo*oooooocooo

Alec watched on as Max and Sam sat in the common area of TC central command, talking to each other enthusiastically. Sometimes they would laugh. Other times, they would become somber and sit in silence. He would have given anything to know what they were talking about. But, he'd long since learned that eavesdropping on either female was hazardous for his health.

He couldn't really explain it, but he could tell them apart instantly. This was the first time he'd seen them together, but there was no mistaking which one was Max.

It didn't make any sense at all. Both were physically identical and similarly dressed. Both had serious attitude problems and had a knack for getting attached to ordinary men, but that was about where the similarities ended.

Max was just...Max. There was no other explanation. There was no duplicating her. She had a spark, a need to help everyone, that couldn't be replicated. Perhaps if they'd grown up in similar environments, they'd be harder to tell apart, but he doubted it.

_He _would know the difference. It was as simple as that.

He stood up from the wall he'd been casually leaning against when he noticed Sam approaching.

"Hey, Sam. How's it hangin'?" Alec said as soon as she was in speaking distance.

"I don't much appreciate being spied on, Alec. You know that." Sam replied, foregoing the pleasantries and looking back at Max for a moment as she went back to work. "But I can see why you like her."

"And now I remember why I always used to avoid you." Alec retorted in a light tone. "And why did you assume I was spying? I could've just been standing here." Alec continued off-handedly.

"Alec. You may have had Manticore fooled, but your games never worked with me." Sam said honestly, staring him down for a fraction of a second before cracking a small smile and continuing on in her previous direction and out of the building.

oooooocooo*oooooovooo*oooooosooo

"Ow, Max. Really. Do you always have to hit me so hard? I know you want me, but there are other methods to gaining my affection." Alec said, rubbing at his sore shoulder as they walked into her office, shutting the door behind him with his foot.

"Alec..." Max gritted out warningly, raising her fist again. Alec held his hands up in surrender.

"Alright, alright. Why is it you needed to see me, O fearless leader?" Alec acquiesced, sitting in the chair in front of her desk.

"Alec? Did you know that Sam wasn't me?" Max asked hesitantly, standing in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Seriously. That's why you wanted to see me?" Alec asked, a bewildered look on his face.

"Yes." Max answered succinctly. "Now answer the question."

"Of course I did. It's probably why she avoided me at every turn. Even at a distance, I knew it wasn't you." Alec answered honestly.

"How did you know?" Max asked, some of the tension leaving her body. She hadn't been completely missed.

"Her nose. It quirks up slightly to the left." Alec deadpanned, teasing her.

"You're kidding, right?" Max said flatly, staring at him blandly.

"What do you want me to say, Max? I just _knew_. You each occupy separate spaces in my mind. Sam is Sam and you are well...you. I've known each of you long enough to see the difference.

"Besides, each of you can kick my ass in totally different ways." Alec finished, leaning back and folding his hands behind his head.

"Well, that isn't very hard. _Anyone_ can kick your ass." Max retorted, the snide remark rolling off her tongue automatically. Alec rolled his eyes.

"I highly doubt that. Sam, however, excelled at kicking ass. While it comes naturally to both of you, she had many more years of Manticore training to perfect it. Her fighting technique is totally different from yours." Alec explained good-naturedly.

"I learned that first-hand." Max stated in a deadpan tone. "It still doesn't answer my question."

"And I don't know how you want me to answer it, Max. You're physically identical. _Your_ eyes radiate warmth and fire whereas hers are mostly cold and calculating. Both of you always refuse to back down from a fight. You know when enough is enough. Sam wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in somebody. I can _feel_ your presence when you enter a room. Sam, I wouldn't know she's there until she's practically on top of me. She simply doesn't affect me the way you do." Alec concluded heatedly, standing up.

"Affect?" Max asked indignantly, confused by the end of his explanation, her eyes shifting from side to side, trying to understand, before returning back to his face. "What's _that _supposed to mean?"

"This." he said, planting himself directly in front of her. Hesitating for a fraction of a second, he dipped his head down, capturing her lips in a desperate kiss.

After Alec pulled back a few moments later, Max looked up at Alec with a glazed over expression on her face.

"Oh. Well why didn't you say so?" Max said breathlessly.

ooooosooo*oooooomooo*oooooovooo

Looking back, Max seems kind of out of character. But, I'm such a stickler for happy endings. And when it comes to Sam (circa She Ain't Heavy, which is around the timeframe of this story), I just pulled that out of the clear blue. I just thought of a snarkier, more blunt Max and went with it. I did my best. Did you like? If it wouldn't hurt too much, drop me a line? Questions, comments, corrections, an idea for a scene...it really doesn't matter to me. I'd really appreciate it. WBL.


End file.
